However, getting here first and standing right in front of the ticket window didn't guarantee us the front seats. Ticket man issued them to a mother and her two children. I don't know whether I should be angry at them for jumping the queue or feel ashamed for being petty. We let it go since she was travelling with kids.  


The road to Jorethang passes through tea estates. As the jeep winds its way down the dirt road, the driver would occasionally slow down to give locals a lift at the back of the jeep and drop off items (newspapers, food) to villagers living in the tea estates who returned the favor with oranges and he actually distributed the oranges to us passengers at the back. Tea workers taking a rest near a hairpin bend signalled the driver to slow down as there was oncoming traffic. Super impressed with the mutual help and support they lend to each other.


After crossing this long suspension bridge


is the border check post. Foreigners have to get their passports and Inner Line Permits stamped here. As expected, the officers took a longer time approving his permit as they scrutinised his visa on arrival.


5 mins later, the jeep pulled into a multi-storey car park in Jorethang. We quickly bought our tickets for the second half of the journey to Pelling (Rs 100 pp, depart 12.30pm) and 


filled our stomachs with vegetable biryani, egg masala and chips for just Rs 130 at Walk Inn. Cheap and delicious vegetarian meal!


I was tempted to buy an apple in this market full of vibrant colours.


Jorethang to Pelling was a more scenic journey.


The moment we got down the jeep, we were blown away when we saw how close we were to Kangchenjunga.


It wasn't fun climbing up and down Pelling with all your bags looking for accommodation. We ended up at Hotel Green Valley in Upper Pelling. Great view but dirty room. Clumps of hair on the floor. Heavy fleece blanket smelled like it has not been washed in ages. No bin in the room. We put up with it since hot shower was working.


We went up and down Pelling (again) looking for Alpine when it was just next to our hotel! It was next to a chicken slaughter house which gave us second thoughts about having our dinner here. I was starving and Nissin came in handy. While the chef was making vegetable pakora for us, I was watching his every move as if he was going to put poison into our food. Pakora turned out to be really tasty despite the unsettling lingering feeling. We realised we were too paranoid as we were perfectly fine throughout our stay in Pelling...